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Legal Profession

Cleveland State University

Public defender

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Defending The Guilty, Barbara Allen Babcock Jan 1983

Defending The Guilty, Barbara Allen Babcock

Cleveland State Law Review

How can you defend a person you know is guilty? I have answered that question hundreds of times, never to my inquirer's satisfaction, and therefore never to my own. In recent years, I have more or less given up, abandoning the high-flown explanations of my youth, and resorting to a rather peevish: "Well, it's not for everybody. Criminal defense work takes a peculiar mind-set, heart-set, soul-set." While I still believe this, the mind-set might at least be more accessible through a better effort at explanation. First we will examine the nature of the question, then the possible answers. We must …


The Immunity Of Public Defenders Under Section 1983, Ellen Keller Jan 1978

The Immunity Of Public Defenders Under Section 1983, Ellen Keller

Cleveland State Law Review

The Circuit Courts of Appeals that have considered the question of a public defender's liability issue have all held public defenders or court-appointed counsel immune from personal liability for actions taken in the course of representing their clients. This note will examine the ways in which the courts have disposed of these cases, discuss factors that have inclined federal courts to grant immunity to public defenders under section 1983, and weigh the advisability of personal liability for malpractice of those who defend indigent defendants in criminal trials.


A Neighborhood Law Office: The New Haven Project, Charles D. Gill Jan 1966

A Neighborhood Law Office: The New Haven Project, Charles D. Gill

Cleveland State Law Review

The first new step taken by the New Haven community was the establishment of free legal services for the poor in offices located within poverty stricken neighborhoods. The offices serve all persons residing within a particular geographic area who meet a financial eligibility standard. Our services are available in both civil and criminal matters. The only type of cases specifically excluded are personal injury plaintiff suits, where there is the possibility of a contingent fee arrangement.